Scuffed

Let's be honest. Things are slowing down. Vince, Watke and Belz convene to talk about how much the 17-win record means, reassess USMNT player coolness, and review the action from the past week. Use the shownotes as guide if you'd rather not ponder whether Weston McKennie and Sergino Dest are actually cool.

An in-depth show about the U.S. men's national soccer team, the players who could one day make it better, and American soccer in general.

What do you do if McKennie, Musah and Adams are unavailable? We run through a lot of the possibilities, settle on some pretty clear (and perhaps obvious) favorite options, and then talk about what we'd like to see vs Bosnia on Saturday.

Vince, Watke and Belz convene for the Monday Review, a full rundown of the news of the week, the action of the USMNT player pool in the past week, and a handful of listener questions.

Belz, Watke and Vince in Louisville convene for a new look Monday Review and we think you'll probably like it. A full rundown of all the news that's fit to talk about with the USMNT this week.

Quick reaction from Greg and Belz on the 26 players called up for Camp Candy Cane, including the apparent lack of experimentation in midfield. Greg also goes on a rant about St. Paul as a location for a February qualifier.

Matt Hartman graciously joins again to talk through what we can have possibly learned about the U20s after their three matches against Brazil, Colombia and Mexico. This one's for the diehards.

Marichal, a Cuban-American professor of political science at California Lutheran University, joins to talk about recognition, mis-recognition, identity, and some of the deeper themes underneath the Mexican-American dual national's choice about which national soccer team to play for. No hard conclusions drawn, just some new (for me, Belz) ways to think about the issue.

Quick recap of the latest USMNT news and the action from the weekend with Watke and NatFan9. We covered St. Paul's weather in February, ranch sauce on pizza, Tim Weah's excellent form, etc. etc.

Quick recap of the weekend's action for Yanks Abroad with Belz, Watke and Jordan. Join the Discord so you can vote in the next power rankings and determine the format of the Monday Review episodes.

Weah, Antonio, goalkeeping minutia. MMA midfield alternatives, a bad field, a bit of a wilt, and a 1-1 draw in Jamaica. Lots to talk about it turns out.

The anthem, placing this victory in historical context, the eye-gouging incident, Mexican newspapers, Panama's miracle comeback, Canada's win, Jamaica's draw and a little bit on the U20s.

An in-depth show about the U.S. men's national soccer team, the players who could one day make it better, and American soccer in general.

Greg and Belz talk about what they'd like to see in the massive match on Friday, and what they'd rather not see.

Jon Arnold gives us a deep dive on Mexico’s roster and Tata’s lineup choices ahead of Friday’s showdown, including the short-term problems in the back line and the long-term problems in the midfield. And then we move straight into a substantive 25-minute discussion of a perhaps-resurgent Jamaica side.

A run through roughly the Top 20 players in the US pool and how they did over the past week with Chris Russell and Jordan Boddie.

Matt Hartman joined to tick through the U20 player pool in detail, lay out the bumpy (at best) transition from the DA to MLS Next, gets enraged at me for suggesting Cade Cowell could be a right back, goes in hard on the 2004 birth year, and tells me he cringed at my answer to the golden generation vs permanent wave of talent debate. Dude absolutely knows his stuff.

No Brooks! No Luca! But Scally and Ferreira get the call and Pulisic returns. Greg and Belz walk through the squad that Berhalter has selected and pick XIs to face Mexico next Friday.

A deep dive review of the USMNT player pool in action (or inaction) over the past week with Chris Russell (aka @watke_) and Jordan, the moderator of the Scuffed Discord (@NatFan9). We start with Tyler Adams and end with Sam Vines. Most of the detail comes in the Top 20.

Taylor Rockwell and Joe Lowery of the Total Soccer Show join Greg and Belz to discuss Berhalter’s regret about the Panama lineup, the US men’s midfield, how to play away Concacaf qualifiers, midfield analytics versus goalkeeping analytics, the US men’s midfield, one word to describe Berhalter’s tenure, our own histories with the game, the golden generation vs the endless generation debate, and of course, the US men’s midfield.

Watke and Belz talk briefly about the U20 player pool, Carli Lloyd's retirement from international soccer, interview the people behind Captain Turner's Rebellion, and take a bunch of questions.

Anywhere from 8 to 12 things we learned in the October window, including the preeminence of the MMA midfield, the ascendance of Antonee Robinson and our strong depth on the wing.

A highly-focused investigation of several a baker's dozen soccer-adjacent topics, including a philosophy of songs and chants, the paucity of USMNT nicknames, a rough power ranking of chess ability among USMNT players, and what sort of crime could get Berhalter fired. New Pepi song at the end.

A massive timeline full of triangles, goalkeeping questions, the MMA midfield, key moments in the final 22 yards, and overall a good strong showing from the first team of the USMNT.

Watke and Belz talk about a few different things live on Discord. Very little about Costa Rica.

Fecklessness in Panama City. Full timeline and then Greg goes in on Gregg in the final 15 minutes. You won't want to miss that.

A pleasant night in Austin, even without Pulisic and Reyna. Ricardo Pepi season is in full swing. Musah is a huge asset. Dest and Robinson playing well.

Almost too much to summarize. Edgar Moreno and Watke join Belz for a sprawling conversation and the release of a new song about Busio.

Why was Michael Antonio invisible vs Panama in Kingston? Is Panama for real without Andrade and Carrasquilla? When is geriatric Costa Rica gonna give youth a chance? Lots to dig into from Jon Arnold, the journalist who writes Getting CONCACAF'd newsletter, on his second visit of the qualifying cycle to the Scuffed Podcast.

Who should play in which of the three upcoming games? Who shouldn't? We sketch out a very malleable plan for that.

Chris Russell (aka @watke_) joins for a live roster reaction on the Discord, a dive into the philosophy of little brothers, a look at the first ever pirate and the ballad mongers who made him famous, several listener questions, several soccer-adjacent topics dealt with. Pretty good episode.

We talk about who we'd like to see called up, and try to project who actually will be called up. Greg goes for a lean roster, Belz goes for the full 30-man roster. Berhalter's roster will come out mid-week.

This is the second part of a more than two-hour collaboration with Joe Lowery and Taylor Rockwell. Part 1 is in the Total Soccer Show feed. For this episode we just kept that conversation going and answered a ton of listener questions about the USMNT, everything from "How concerned are you about Weston McKennie's dad's deleted tweets?" to "How do each of you attempt to evaluate and attribute individual versus system based errors?"

The founder of 3rddegree.net, Buzz Carrick, who knows more about FC Dallas than anyone, joins to talk about Pepi, Pomykal, Ferreira, Che, the academy pipeline, the connection with Bayern Munich and the top young players coming up through the ranks. Lots of worthwhile insight.

Wahl has launched a new Substack and he's cranking out podcasts, and short and long pieces, as he covers all 14 of the USMNT's World Cup qualifiers in person. He joins to talk about San Salvador, Nashville and San Pedro Sula, and going it as an independent after decades at the top of the soccer reporting pyramid.

Jordan (our esteemed Discord moderator) joins Belz for a quick rundown of the club action in the player pool. These have typically been available only to patrons, but I might start putting them on the public podcast feed. We'll see. Consider this a trial balloon. The show was recorded live on Discord, where patrons are able to join in the broadcast in various ways.

Berhalter disasterclass in the first half, followed by three good changes at the half and a rout of Honduras in San Pedro Sula. What a crazy night, with an 18-year-old Mexican-American from El Paso as the hero.

An in-depth show about the U.S. men's national soccer team, the players who could one day make it better, and American soccer in general.

The USA men opened their World Cup qualifying campaign in San Salvador on Thursday night. Full look at the meta-interpretations, full timeline, and an assessment of the team under Berhalter now.

Michael Lewis, the editor of Front Row Soccer and a reporting veteran of eight World Cups and seven Olympics, joins to talk about the USMNT playing away in Honduras, and other parts of Central America. He also discusses what it's like to cover these games, having done so himself in San Pedro Sula in 2001 and 2009.

Berhalter called up 26 players for the first three World Cup qualifiers of the 2022 cycle. The time has come! We discuss the selections (mostly pleased) and spend quite a bit of time trying to figure out how to rotate for three games in seven days. There will be lots of tough choices and on-the-fly conundrums but from the comfort of our desks in Middle America we have sketched out some possibilities.

Who is Berhalter likely to select, who could be his cute selection, and who do we wish he'd select that he probably won't. The overlap between Berhalter's choices and ours is much heavier than it was in the past, because, as Greg puts it, the pool is increasingly "cute-proof."

The US faces El Salvador, Canada and Honduras in the first window of the Ocho, the first week of September. Jon Arnold, arguably the leading expert on Concacaf as a region, joins to help us understand these opponents before we try to get back to the World Cup, the moment we’ve all been waiting for. Recording this early to give folks plenty of time to consume the episode before Sept. 2.

The latest news on the dual national front is that David Ochoa, the promising young Mexican-American goalkeeper who’s played for the US youth national teams since he was an adolescent and was the starter on the Olympic qualifying roster, is likely to switch and play for Mexico. Joining the pod to talk about the dual national dilemma is Herculez Gomez.

The US men faced Mexico in the second tournament final in less than two months, with a B squad and frankly nothing to lose.

The US faced the Asian champs in the semifinals of the Gold Cup. A well-organized opponent with ways to score goals. We came out with the same lineup that battled its way to a 1-0 win over Jamaica. Full breakdown, takeaways, timeline.

Back to the 4-3-3 with Sands, Busio, Hoppe and Dike getting the nod in a knockout quarterfinal in the Gold Cup. Full chronology and more.

A two-striker setup for the first time in the Berhalter era! Yay! Plus we talk about injury replacements, and then suggest fantastical non-injury-related roster changes.

An in-depth show about the U.S. men's national soccer team, the players who could one day make it better, and American soccer in general.

Yueill and Lewis start, Busio makes his NT debut, Shaq Moore comes back into the picture, and the Gold Cup is underway.